The Invasion of Sanctuary
by Gold Saint Mu
Summary: Saint Seiya: Hades Sanctuary. The Specters have invaded Sanctuary. Radamanthys has finally reached the Pope's Chamber, and now he fights Saga.


**The Invasion of Sanctuary**

Rhadamanthys blasted the doors to the Pope's chamber. "I'm here, Grand Pope! Prepare to die!"

"Wyvern Rhadamanthys? I've been expecting you," said the Grand Pope of Athena. He stood and took off his helmet and mask.

"You're the Pope?" Rhadamanthys frowned. The Pope was supposed to be 261 years old. His hair was light blue without a trace of white hair, and his face was that of a handsome young man. Instead of fear or even pride, his deep green eyes were filled with sadness. Was this a trick?

"Rhadamanthys, you broke through the Twelve Temples and made it here to the Pope's Chamber. You've proven your strength as one of the Three Judges of Hell, the most powerful of Hades' Specters."

Rhadamanthys raised his Cosmos. "Then you know I'm going to kill you and your goddess Athena." He blasted the Pope, who caught the attack in one hand. "What?"

Tears began to flow down the Pope's cheeks. "Rhadamanthys, if I could, I would gladly let you kill me. The sins that I've committed are unforgivable. But no, now is not the time for confession."

"You're right. Now is the time for you to die, Pope!" Rhadamanthys rushed at the Pope with raised fist and punched him across the face. The Pope stopped his punch once again with one hand. "What? Impossible!"

The Pope turned away from him, leaving himself open to an attack from the back, but the oddity of the situation made Rhadamanthys hesitate. "The truth is..." The Pope's voice suddenly became strained, and he put his head in his hands as if he was in pain. Rhadamanthys hadn't even started really attacking him yet. "Go! You won't be able to accomplish your mission. Just go!"

"I won't leave until I've slain Athena and recovered Hades' body!" Rhadamanthys powered up.

The Pope began to laugh. His hair became pitch black, darker than the night. The Pope's laughter became more sinister, and when he turned, Rhadamanthys saw that his eyes had become blood red. His Cosmos was that of evil incarnate. "Die, Rhadamanthys!"

Rhadamanthys was able to block despite his surprise but was nevertheless impressed by the strength of the Pope's attack. "Take this! GREATEST CAUTION!" This was his special attack, not just one of the random blasts of energy, and it took the form of a powerful wyvern. At first, the attack seemed to work, but then he realized he'd only managed to damage the Pope's robe. The Pope ripped off the rest of his clothes, leaving him stark naked.

Rhadamanthys was speechless. This was, by far, the oddest battle he'd ever fought.

"And now, to summon my Cloth!" The Pope held up his hand and pointed into the air. The Gold Cloth of Gemini appeared above him. It separated and reassembled itself as armor on the Pope's body. "Don't you know? You can't use the same attack twice on a Saint. I've already seen your Greatest Caution."

"What? Gemini Saga?" Rhadamanthys took a step back. He had faced the Gemini Saint back in the third temple, but when he had thought he'd destroyed it with his Greatest Caution, he had discovered that the armor was empty. At least it had cleared the labyrinth to allow the Specters to continue on their ascent to Athena's Temple. Had the Pope somehow controlled the Gemini Cloth from afar and been able to witness his attack?

Saga threw back his cape and called out, "ANOTHER DIMENSION!"

The world around him broke, and Rhadamanthys fell through space and into another plane of existence. Last time, Griffin Minos had caught him and brought him back to the world with his Marionette strings. This time, there would be no escape from his eternal fate.

Suddenly, Rhadamanthys found himself a few feet above the stones of the Pope's throne room. He splatted face down against floor, but he was alive and in the right world again. Rhadamanthys struggled to get onto his elbows and raised his head to look at the demon before him.

The Pope knelt on the ground, fighting some sort of internal force. Perhaps one of the Specters was attacking him mentally? His head was bowed, and he seemed to be in excruciating pain. Rhadamanthys couldn't risk interrupting his fellow Specter's attack even though he really wanted to finish off his own opponent. And yet, to his knowledge, none of the Specters had a mental attack like the illusions of the Phoenix Saint.

"Damn you!" growled the Pope. "How dare you try to stop me?"

"I cannot allow you to commit any more crimes." Rhadamanthys couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, but it was the kindly one of the Pope he'd seen when he'd first arrived.

"Silence!" Saga looked up, but he wasn't looking at Rhadamanthys. "What crime is there in destroying the enemy? If you hadn't interfered, I would have gained control of the world ages ago!" That didn't sound like something a Saint of Athena would say. "You have always held me back from achieving my goals!" Saga stood and shouted to his invisible enemy, "Fine! Since you're so fond of him, I'll spare Wyvern's life! Instead, I'll strip him of his five senses." Saga suddenly snapped out of the mental attack.

"What?" Saga shot some sort of energy at him. Rhadamanthys tried to block but couldn't because, instead of striking him as a regular blow, the energy was a thin line that passed into his mouth and out the other side. Suddenly, Rhadamanthys found that he couldn't speak. That effectively eliminated his roaring attack, though it was apparently useless against Gemini anyway. His other four senses were destroyed one after another. No, but he couldn't fail. He had to defeat Saga and kill Athena. Rhadamanthys reached deep into himself and burned his Cosmos.

"GREETING ROAR!" This attack had managed to break the ice of the Aquarius Saint. Without the roar, the attack was weaker, but the fangs of the Wyvern were still deadly.

"Hahaha! You can't hurt me with such a weak attack!" Rhadamanthys couldn't see anymore, but he could sense Saga blocking each of his blows. For Hades! Rhadamanthys intensified his attacks until they moved at light speed. Now, it was Gemini's turn to exclaim in surprise. He fell.

Rhadamanthys stumbled to his feet. He couldn't see, and he couldn't sense Athena or Hades' Cosmos. How was he supposed to kill Athena and recover Hades' body now? But somehow, he was able to see the Statue of Athena despite being blind. Athena would be there, and Hades would likely be kept imprisoned there too. He slowly took a step forward only to be punched in the gut by Saga.

"Idiot. You think that a few fangs at light speed is enough to stop me?" Saga's voice was arrogant, but perhaps it was well-deserved arrogance. "Though, it was impressive to see you accomplish such a feat in your condition. Now I'll finish you once and for all. Die, Wyvern!"

Rhadamanthys dashed past Saga, who wasn't expecting him to be able to move, and grabbed him from behind. "Give me the strength to burn my Cosmos once more, Hades!"

He raised his Cosmos to the sixth sense, beyond those that had been destroyed. Saga wouldn't be able to defend with Rhadamanthys attacking from the back instead of the front, and their close proximity would kill them both, but perhaps one of the other Three Judges could still complete their mission. He had left them behind to fight the final few Gold Saints.

"GREATEST CAUTION!" The point blank attack threw them both into the air. They crashed through the roof of the Pope's Chamber. Rhadamanthys could barely lift his head. Then he sensed Saga approaching him. It was impossible, but somehow, Saga had survived and was apparently still relatively unharmed.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but your last attempt failed." Saga moved to stand over Rhadamanthys. "It was a good idea. It might even have worked on one of the other Gold Saint." The legendary Gemini Saint, the one who had disappeared years ago, was far more powerful than anyone had suspected. And Rhadamanthys no longer had the strength to defend himself.

"Farewell. Die, Wyvern." Saga's tone was lighter and suddenly he started arguing with himself again. "What? The Face of Justice is crying." By now, Rhadamanthys was convinced Saga wasn't trapped in an illusion but was arguing with himself. "Why is it crying? What's so evil and wrong with wanting to rule the world?" And that was when Rhadamanthys knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this black-haired, red-eyed Saga was truly evil incarnate.

"What's so evil about wanting absolute control?" Saga ranted. He was talking to someone behind Rhadamanthys, some part of his consciousness. "If not me, then another will rise in my place! Since the dawn of creation, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades have wanted to take control of this world. If the world isn't ready to oppose them, they'll succeed and rule over us humans. In reality, I am the savior of mankind!"

"Hades..." Rhadamanthys breathed. Yes, Hades-sama. It was true that he had come to kill Athena but he had also come to retrieve Hades' body, which was rumored to be among the Saints of Athena, so that Hades could take control of the world. In that respect, Saga was right. Rhadamanthys forced himself to stand again and hoped the piece of good Saga would protect him.

"All those who oppose me will die! No matter who it is!" Saga powered up. "Die!"

Rhadamanthys was blown off his feet again. He heard the metal clinking noise of Gemini's helmet—so that's what it had been. But if there was a way to use this knowledge, Rhadamanthys didn't know it. He crashed against the roof so hard that he made an imprint then fell to the floor.

"Wyvern, your life hangs by a thread. This next blow will crush your head." Rhadamanthys could feel Saga's fist came flying at him, and although he couldn't see, he closed his eyes out of instinct. Suddenly, several burning feathers buried themselves into Saga's hand. "Who dares to oppose me?"

The Specter landed nearby with his wings shielding him from any possible attack. "Bennu Kagaho."

"Impossible! You died along with Shaka!"

"Apparently, Shaka has finally become convinced that you need to be deposed." Kagaho burned his Cosmos.

"Fine, then you can die along with your friend, Wyvern." Saga attacked Wyvern, who had stumbled to his feet, but Kagaho came between them. Even his Surplice couldn't easily absorb Saga's attack.

"Go, Rhadamanthys! Even without your five senses, you can still use your Seventh Sense to recover Hades' body!" Kagaho had sworn to protect Hades. He lived to protect Hades. There was nothing else in his life. "CORONA BLAST!"

Rhadamantys knew Kagaho was just a distraction. He was powerful, but if Rhadamanthys hadn't been able to defeat Saga, then Kagaho had little chance of it too. If Rhadamanthys could only reach Hades' body, then Hades would be revived and bring them victory. Rhadamanthys stumbled into Athena's chambers. He used his Seventh Sense to search for Athena and Hades. He sensed neither.

"Impossible!" Rhadamanthys fell to his knees. "Impossible. Hades-sama."

"He's dead." Rhadamanthys didn't move. What did it matter now? "My older brother Saga killed Athena's human incarnation. This was the secret he was trying to keep from you, from everyone, and it was the only reason he fought you."

"Older brother?"

"Yes, Saga has a younger twin brother, me, Gemini Kanon. I became one of Poseidon's Marine Generals, Sea Dragon Kanon, but after killing Athena, he killed the human incarnations of Poseidon and Hades. The Holy Wars of this era are over. There will be others in the future, but not in our lifetimes." Rhadamanthys could tell Kanon wasn't lying because of the disappointment in his voice, the crushed ambitions.

Rhadamanthys considered asking about the other Specters but then decided not to. They were coworkers, not friends, and if their jobs as Specters had been eliminated, then there was no point in associating with them. He was doggedly loyal to Hades, but Hades was dead.

"What of Saga?" Rhadamanthys asked at last.

"Saga? The God-slayer?" Kanon snorted. "Isn't it obvious? He wins. He gets to rule the world. The only one who can oppose him is himself. You either accept that fact or die. But your death would be meaningless now." Kanon slid an arm around Rhadamanthys and helped him up. "Let's go. I'll take you home."


End file.
